Illinois State Bar Association to Honor Members

The Illinois State Bar Association will present awards in several categories at the Awards Luncheon on Friday, June 25 during the organization’s Annual Meeting at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis.

President John O’Brien will honor the following recipients: The Board of Governors Award will be presented to Hon. Thomas R. Fitzgerald, Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court; Hon. Alexander P. White, Cook County Circuit Judge and Sonni C. Williams, attorney for the City of Peoria and chair of the Standing Committee on Racial and Ethnic Minorities and the Law.

The Matthew Maloney Tradition of Excellence Award will be given to Langdon D. Neal, Chairman of the Chicago Board of Elections and principal and owner of Neal & Leroy, LLC, one of the oldest minority-owned and operated law firms in the U.S.

State Rep. Greg Harris will receive the Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity Committee Community Leadership Award. Gina Arquilla DeBoni, a member of the ISBA Board of Governors and a managing attorney at Romanucci & Blandin, LLC, and Diana M. Law, managing partner of Law ElderLaw LLP, will receive ISBA Young Lawyer of the Year Awards.

This year’s YLD/Law Student Division Public Service Award will be presented to DePaul Law Student Jennifer Grobelski. Winners in the Lincoln Award Legal Writing Contest include: Geoffrey T. Burkhart, Samuel G. Wiczorek, Paul A. Rodrigues and Nicholas P. Cholis. The Hon. John R. DeLaMar has been selected to receive the John C. McAndrews Pro Bono Service Award.